Toggle linkage



July 5, 1960 Filed March 7, 1956 E. H. MEISINGER E'AL TOGGLE LINKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 WI! I "W Elm H. Mm zm,

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July 5, 1960 E. H. MEISINGER ETAL ,497

TOGGLE LINKAGE Filed March 7, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 5, 19 0 E. H. MEISINGER ETAL 2,943,497

TOGGLE LINKAGE Filed March 7, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United dtates atent G TOGGLE LINKAGE Elmer H. Meisinger and Vincent J. Merlo, St. Louis,

Mo., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Dixie Products, In'c.

Filed Mar. 7, 1956, Ser. N0. 569,995

7 Claims. (Cl. 74-406) This invention relates to cooking ranges, and more particularly to a mechanism for operating a broiler for a cooking range.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of an improved toggle linkage, particularly useful for operating 'a slidable broiler in a cooking range of the type having a broiler chamber, a door for the broiler chamber, and a broiler carriage which is connected to the door to be movable forward from a retracted position in the chamber to an extended position on opening the door and returned to retracted position on closing the door, wherein a toggle linkage connection between the door and the carriage is such that the door moves open sufficiently for viewing an item being broiled before the carriage starts to move outward; the provision of a mechanism as described in which the movement of the carriage from its retracted to its extended position is quickly effected during the remainder of the opening movement of the door; the provision of a toggle linkage as described in which the return movement of one member to a retracted position is effected on moving another member from an open position, the one member quickly getting out of the way of the other member; the provision of a broiler operating toggle linkage of the class described in which the carriage, when in extended position, projects relatively far out of the broiler chamber; the provision of a broiler operating mechanism of the class described which enables the carriage to be made of large size in relation to the size of the broiler chamber; and the provision of a toggle linkage having the above stated features which is economical to manufacture. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the constructions hereinafter described by way of example, the scope of the invention being indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation showing a broiler construction of this invention, the door for the broiler chamber being shown in fully open position;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross section taken on line 22 of Fig. l, on a reduced scale;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the scale of Fig. 2 taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and showing the door closed; and,

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3, but showing the door in an intermediate position.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, there is indicated at 1 a cooking range having a heating chamber 3 constituting a broiler chamber, and a door 5 for the chamber. The chamber has a sheet metal bottom indicated at 7, and left and right sheet metal side walls indicated at 9 and 11. The door 5 is pivoted for swinging movement on a vertical axis at the left side of the front of the broiler chamber. The door hinge is indicated at 13. The door is swingable from the closed position illustrated in Fig. 3 to the fully open position extending forward from the range illusbracket 55, tends to straighten out the toggle. The link 59 is engageable with a bent-up lug 71 on the bracket,

: pivot 47 and the pin connection 65. At the end of the t-rated in' Fig. 2. g

A broiler carriage generally designated 15 is connected to the door to be moved outward on opening the doorfrom the retracted position in the broiler chamber 3, illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, tothe extended position projecting out of the broiler chamber, shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, and to 'be returned to retracted position on closing the door. The carriage has a bottom wall 17,'side walls 19 and a back wall 23. The forward end portions of the bottom and side walls are braced by a U-shaped strap member 25. The carriage is mounted for sliding movement in a straight-line path by means of conventional ball-bearing drawer-type guides indicated at 27. These hold the carriage with its bottom above the bottom 7 of the broiler chamber to provide space for a linkage- 29 connecting the door and the carriage.

The side walls 19 of the carriage are provided with supports 31 for holding a broiler grid 33 at various levels. The carriage is also adapted to carry a support 35 at its forward end for the forward end of a rotisserie spit 37. An electric motor 39 for driving the spit is mounted on the back side of the back wall 23 of the carriage. The motor drives the spit through a speed-reducing gear box 41 and a chain and sprocket drive 42. A flexible cord for supplying current to the motor is indicated at 43. This cord is of such length as to permit movement of the carriage from its retracted to its extended position. A switch for controlling the motor is indicated at 44.

The linkage 29 which connects the door 5 and the broiler carriage comprises an elongate arm 45 pivoted at 47 in the chamber 3 to swing on a vertical axis in a generally horizontal plane below the carriage. This pivot 47 is located adjacent the door hinge 13. As shown in Fig. 3, when the door 5 is closed, the arm 45 extends rearward from the pivot 47 along the left-hand side of the broiler chamber 3 adjacent the left side wall 9 of chamber 3. An elongate link 49 is pin-connected at 51 to the rearward end of the arm 45 and has its forward end pin-connected as indicated at 53 to the center point of the bottom portion of the strap 25. The arrangement is such that when the arm 45 swings clockwise on its pivot 47 from its retracted position shown in Fig. 3, the carriage 15 is moved outward.

A sheet metal bracket 55 is fixed to the inside of the door 5 in a horizontal plane below the carriage 15. The

pin-connected at 61 to the rearward end of the bracket 55 and a link 63 being pin-connected at 65 to the arm 45, the links 59 and 63'being pin-connected at 67. This connection '67 constitutes the knee of the toggle. The connection 65 is nearer the pivot 47 at the forward end of the arm 45 than its other end. When the door 5 is closed, the toggle is broken, as shown in Fig. 3. A tension spring 69, connected between the link 59 and the this lug constituting a stop for limiting the straightening out of the toggle under the action of the spring 69. A toggle breaker 73 is fixed to the arm 45 between the toggle breaker there is a bent-up ear 75 in which is threaded a screw 77 for engaging the knee of the toggle.

Operation is as follows:

With the door 5 closed, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the arm 45 occupies the retracted position extending rearward from its pivot 47 alongside theleft sidewall 9 of the carriage remains in its retracted position until the door reaches the partly open position shown in Fig. 4. In this position, the door is open sufiiciently for viewing an item being broiled. As the door is swung open, the toggle straightens out, and, when the door reaches the Fig. 4 position, the toggle (which is almost straight at this point) engages the screw 77 at the end of the toggle breaker 73. Then, upon continued outward movement of the door from the Fig. 4 position, the arm 45 is swung clockwise on its pivot 47 by the toggle. Upon the swinging of arm 45, the toggle breaker 73 moves away from the toggle, and straightening out of the toggle is completed to the point where the toggle link 59 engages the stop 71. As shown in Fig. 2, the stop 71 determines a position of the toggle in which toggle links 59 and 63 are aligned, but it will be understood that exact alignment is not essential, in view of the provision of the spring 69. The door then acts through the straightened-out toggle to continue to swing the arm 45 clockwise, and the carriage 15 is thereby moved out of the broiler chamber in response to the swinging of the door from the partly open Fig. 4 position to the fully open Fig. 2 position. Since the connection of the toggle to the arm 45 at 65 is near the pivot 47 for the arm, the movement of the rearward end of the arm (and of the link 4a is multiplied over and above the movement of the connection at 65 so that the carriage has a relatively long quick travel. When the door reaches the fully open position shown in Fig. 2, the carriage reaches the fully extended position shown in solid lines in Fig. 2 projecting a substantial distance out of the broiler chamber. The toggle 57 is then in its straightened position, and the toggle breaker 73 is located to the left of the toggle.

Upon pushing the door inward from its fully open position, the arm 45 is swung counterclockwise on its pivot 47 by the straightened-out toggle 57 to move the carriage 15 inward from its extended position. The toggle is held in its straightened position by the action of the spring 69. When the door reaches a position somewhat in advance of that shown in Fig. 4, the toggle breaker 73 engages the knee of the toggle and breaks it. At this point the carriage has been completely returned to its retracted position, and further inward movement of the door from the Fig. 4 position to its closed position simply results in movement of the toggle links to their broken Fig. 3 position.

From the above, it will be seen that the linkage 29 connecting the door 5 and the carriage 15 is adapted to move the carriage outward from its retracted position shown in dotted lines in Pig. 2 to its extended position shown in solid lines in Fig. 2 only in response to movement of the door from its partly open position shown in Fig. 4 to its fully open position shown in Fig. 2. The carriage remains in retracted position upon outward movement of the door from its closed position to the partly open Fig. 4 position. The linkage 29 is also adapted to move the carriage inward from its extended position shown in solid lines in Fig. 2 to its retracted position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 in response to movement of the door from its fully open Fig. 2 position to its partly open Fig. 4 position. The linkage provides a multiplying action so that the movement of the carriage from the retracted to the extended position is quickly efiected during the movement of the door from the partly open Fig. 4 position to the fully open Fig. 2 position, and so that the carriage movement is relatively long. Thus, the carriage, when in extended position, projects relatively far out of the chamber 3. The arrangement enables the door to be moved to the partly open Fig. 4 position for viewing an item being broiled without moving the carriage .out of the broiler chamber. When the broiler is used as a rotisserie, the carriage may be moved out to its extended position for basting, the motor 39 remaining in operation to turn the spit.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several position and on extended position, comprising a pivoted arm, a link pivotally connected to the arm and to the second member, and means pivotally connecting the first member and the arm adapted to move the arm in one direction for moving the second member from its retracted to its extended position only in response to movement of the first member from an intermediate position to its second position, the second member remaining in retracted position upon movement of the first member from its first position to said intermediate position, said means also being adapted to move the arm in the opposite direction for moving the second member from its extended to its retracted position in response to movement of the first member from its said second position to its said intermediate position, said means comprising a toggle, said toggle being broken when said first member is in its first position, and straightening out when said first member is moved from its first to its said intermediate position, and means for breaking the toggle in response to movement of the first member from its said second position to its said intermediate position.

2. Mechanism for connecting a swingable member movable between a first position and a second position and a slidable member movable in a straight-line path between a retracted position and an extended position, comprising an arm pivoted at one end thereof, a link connecting the other end of the arm to the slidable member, a toggle connecting the swingable member and the arm adapted to move the arm in one direction for moving the slidable member from its retracted to its extended position only in response to swinging of the swingable member from an intermediate position to its second position, said toggle being broken when the swingable member is in its first position, and straightening out when the swingable member is swung from its first to its said intermediate position, so that the slidable member remains in retracted position upon swinging of the swingable member from its first position to said intermediate position, said toggle being adapted, when straightened out, to move the arm in the opposite direction for moving the slidable member from its extended to its retracted position in response to swinging of the swingable member from its said second position to its said intermediate position, and means carried by the arm for breaking the toggle in response to swinging of the swingable member from its second position to its said intermediate position.

3. Mechanism for connecting a swingable member movable between a first position and a second position and a slidable member movable in a horizontal straightline path between a retracted position and an extended position, said swingable member being pivoted on a vertical axis at one side of said path, comprising an arm pivoted at one end thereof for swinging movement in a generally horizontal plane below the slidable member, the pivot for said arm being located adjacent the pivot for the swingable member, a link connecting the other end of the arm to the slidable member, a bracket on the swingable member, a toggle located below the slidable member connecting the bracket and the arm adapted to move the arm in one direction for moving the slidable member from its retracted to its extended position only in response to swinging of the swingable member from an intermediate position to its second position, said toggle comprising two links pivotally connected together at the knee of the toggle, one link being pivotally connected to the bracket and the other being pivotally connected to the arm, said arm extending from its pivot adjacent one side of said path and said toggle being broken when said swingable member is in its first position, said toggle straightening out when the swingable member is swung from its said first to its said intermediate position so that the slidable member remains in retracted position upon swinging of the swingable member from its first position to its said intermediate position, said toggle being adapted, when straightened out, to move the arm in the opposite direction for moving the slidable member from its extended to its retracted position in response to swinging of the swingable member from its said second position to its said intermediate position, and means carried by the arm between the pivot for the arm and the connection between the arm and said other toggle link for breaking the toggle in response to swinging of the swingable member from its said second position to its said intermediate position.

4. Mechanism as set forth in claim 3 comprising a spring connected between the toggle and the bracket and tending to straighten out the toggle, and a stop movable with the swingable member engageable by the toggle to limit the straightening out of the toggle under the action of the spring.

5. Mechanism for connecting a first member movable between a first position and a second position and a second member movable between a retracted position and an extended position, comprising a toggle operatively connecting said members adapted to move the second member from its retracted to its extended position only in response to movement of the first member from an intermediate position to its second position, the second member remaining in retracted position upon movement of the first member to said intermediate position, said toggle comprising two links pivotally connected together at the knee of the toggle, means pivotally connecting one link to the first member, and operating means operatively connecting the other link to the second member, said toggle being broken when the first member is in its first position, said toggle straightening out when the first member is moved from its first to its said intermediate position, and said toggle being straight when the first member is moved between its said intermediate position and its said second position, and means connected to said operating means and movable by the first member for engaging and breaking the toggle upon movement of the first member from its said second to its said intermediate position.

6. Mechanism as set forth in claim 5 in which the first member is a pivoted member and the second member is a slidable member movable in a straight-line path between its retracted and extended positions.

7. Mechanism as set forth in claim 6 in which said path is a horizontal path, in which said first member is pivoted on a vertical axis at one side of said path, and in which said toggle is located below said second member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 355,180 Kuehnle Dec. 28, 1886 849,010 Murphy Apr. 2, 1907 1,429,870 Gussa Sept. 19, 1922 1,682,373 Davis Aug. 28, 1928 1,936,124 Wilson Nov. 21, 1933 2,040,598 Cronyn et a1 May 12, 1936 2,186,030 Lester Jan. 9, 1940 2,302,217 Hennessey Nov. 17, 1942 2,348,545 Kahn May 9, 1944 2,532,445 Haberstump Dec. 5, 1950 2,576,252 Conner Nov. 27, 1951 2,638,894 Corn, Ir May 19, 1953 

